About time. That was my reaction to the news that Sky Sport is turning down the volume on referees in NPC rugby matches. Ever since the refs have been wired for sound they have ?with or two notable exceptions- become rugby's prima donnas. Their constant chatter is irritating, as much to players asit is to viewers, and a lot of what they say simply shouldn't be said. If a player is standing in an offside position then don't scream at him to get back, penalise him. Same for a player who, deliberately or not, gets himself on the wrong side of a ruck or maul. If he's pinged the first time he'd be damn stupid to repeat the offence, wouldn't he? And why call the two captains together when a player is being sent to the sin-bin. Yes, explain the situation (briefly)to the player himself, but surely we don't need long drawn-out discussions as to why the particular action is being taken. I mean imagine if umpires in cricket went the same way. You'd need an extra day to cope with the reasons why they either supported or turned down lbw appeals. It wasn't so long that the first message given to aspiring rugby referees was to go into any game with the idea of being No 31. Which meant in layman's terms that they should go about their work without any fuss and bother. Of course they still had to enforce the rules, but in a manner which didn't have them as the centre of the attention. They were constantly reminded that the game was for the players and that they as the referee should be no more than a "bit part" in the whole scheme of things. I wonder what effect Sky Sport's latest move will have on our top rugby refs. Knowing that they only have an audience of 30 just might encourage them to let their whistle do the talking. A nice thought, isn't it?
